Has anyone seen this before? I think he blue pea vine is supposed to be host for the long tailed skipper. Many leaves are notched and turned over, but the only thing I can find on the leaves are these little white rings.
White rings on Blue pea vine
Your rings are eggs that have hatched. They are really small when they hatch and they're green so you might not see them yet. Keep checking and see if more leaves get those little "notches" and are folded over.
Melanie
Thanks! I was hoping that it was something like that! There are lots and lots of little notches with folds on many leaves! Great! The pea vine was planted this year for the cats. It has grown and blossomed very well and now cats! Super!
That's great! I'm raising a few on beggarweeds (genus desmodium). They grow pretty fast so even if they're small now, you should be able to see them in a week or two. I try not to unfold the leaves to look for them when they're still small because I'm afraid I might accidentally hurt them. But once they get a little bigger it should be ok.
Congrats Snuzer :o)
They do look like hatched egg shells. I've seen a variety of skipper eggs over the years but had not seen a group close together like that.
Mellie...do they lay eggs in clusters? The only skipper I've seen that laid three eggs within a few millimeters from each other was a Guava Skipper. Perhaps they butterfly figured that was a prime choice for a leaf :o)
~ Cat
Yup, they come in clusters too. Long-tailed skippers will lay eggs either way.
Wow Mellie! I'd not seen that before. Out here they lay one egg to a leaf - perhaps because the vines are so abundant they can spread themselves around :o)
Thanks for sharing that photo!!!
~ Cat
Sure, here's another I had posted in the daily thread. I thought it was cool because before I picked it, these eggs were sticking up and defying gravity which I thought was awesome. I'm raising some of the cats in my butterfly house, so I'll be sure to keep you updated. I'm 90% sure they're Long-Tailed Skippers, but there are some other butterflies that use plants in the bean family so I'll be 100% when they eclose!
WOW!!! That is so freaky! I thought only Question Marks did that stacking thing! The long tailed skippers here don't do that :o(
I need to plant more beans in my yard. Wait...I need a bigger yard! Hmmm...maybe it's time to swap out some of the passion vine trellises for bean vines :o)
~ Cat
Yup, these are my Cherokee Wax beans that I meant for me to eat, not the caterpillars! I had never seen the stacking thing either so I was super excited. I pulled some beggarweed and potted it and set the eggs near the bottom of the plant. They're happily eating and growing in the butterfly house. I get to eat my beans, and the cats get to live!
Ah making a note...hit the store for a package of Cherokee Wax beans :o) If they work for you...they might work for me here too.
Thanks!
I still have some Red Scarlet Runner bean seeds. Will plant some at the ranch soon. Was it you or Becky or ??? that said they were using that as a larval host too.
~ Cat
I had some even using Purple Hyacinth Bean last year!
I'm so glad you posted this thread snuzer! I had no idea the butterfly pea was a host for skippers. Today I saw a skipper flitting around it and sure enough it was a momma laying eggs. By the time I went and got the camera she was gone, but I found these!
And a pic of the pretty flower too
Cool! Yours did the stacking thing like mine! I know the swallowtails get a lot of attention from butterfly lovers so I always like to see one of the smaller or less showy butterflies get some love. That's cool that so many of us have these guys visiting our yards.
Melanie
I saw some little caterpillars on the vine today. I was out of town for a couple days and am leaving again. So when I come back, I hope to see them growing bigger!